1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printed board connector for making an electrical connection with a printed board.
2. Description of the Related Art
The connector has multiple terminals. A conventional terminal portion of a contact to be connected to a printed circuit on the printed board is not disposed a sufficient space apart from other members. Therefore, at the time of soldering, solder flux flows into the space and causes various problems. For example, as shown in a front view of FIG. 6 and a side view of FIG. 7, a conventional connector is provided with a rectangular parallelepiped housing 1. In the housing 1, female contacts 2 are provided in the front and in the rear as seen in FIG. 6. Plural pairs of the front and rear female contacts 2 are arranged transversely in parallel.
In a fixed portion 3A formed below a contact portion 3, the female contact 2 is pressed into and fixed in a press-in hole 4A of a terminal press-in section 4 which is provided substantially in a central portion along the height of the housing 1. On a terminal portion 5 linearly extended from the fixed portion 3A a terminal leg 5A is formed which is bent orthogonally toward the outside of the housing 1 from a substantially central portion of the terminal portion 5.
Numeral 7 denotes isolation walls which are formed by extended portions of front and rear side walls 1A and extended to under end surfaces 7A of the housing 1. The terminal leg 5A is drawn to the outside from a pull-out groove 8 which is formed between the isolation walls 7. The housing 1 is set on an upper surface of a printed board P. The terminal leg 5A of the female contact 2 is soldered to a printed circuit which is formed on the upper surface of the printed board P.
However, when the housing 1 is set on the printed board P, the under end surfaces 7A of the isolation walls 7 abut on the upper surface of the printed board P. Additionally, both end faces of the terminal leg 5A of the female contact 2 are in contact with or adjacent to both side surfaces 8A of the pull-out groove 8. Also, an upper surface 5B of wind portion of the terminal leg 5A is also in contact with or adjacent to an upper wall surface 8B of the pull-out groove 8.
Therefore, when the terminal leg 5A is soldered to the printed circuit of the printed board P, flux enters the housing 1 via small clearances between the both side surfaces 8A of the pull-out groove 8 and both end faces of the terminal leg 5A and between the upper wall surface 8B and the upper surface 5B of the wind portion. Further, the flux rises along a contact portion between an inner wall surface 1B of the housing 1 and the terminal portion 5 by means of capillary phenomenon. The flux climbs up to an under surface of the terminal press-in section 4 which forms an upper portion of the terminal portion 5.
Also, the female contact 2 is mounted in the housing 1 by cutting the female contact 2 from its carrier and subsequently pressing the female contact 2 into the press-in hole 4A of the terminal press-in section 4. Further, the terminal leg 5A is folded and bent orthogonally toward the outside by using as a guide the under end surface of the upper wall surface 8B of the pull-out groove 8. The terminal leg 5A is thus drawn from the pull-out groove 8 toward the outside. In this case, dispersion arises in the folding and bending angle of the terminal leg 5A. It is difficult to control dimensions of the terminal legs.
Therefore, since a condition of contact with the printed board is varied, soldering is performed non-uniformly. In some case, a connection defect is caused.
The terminal portion 5 of the female contact 2 has an non-plated broken section which is made by cutting the female contact 2 from the carrier. Also, the terminal leg 5A is scratched at the time of a bending process. Therefore, the soldered condition is improper. Further, in some cases the rising flux sticks to the contact portion 3. The movement of the contact portion 3 is restricted. An inserting/pulling force is difficult exerted at the time of engagement with male terminals and at the time of pulling male contacts.
Further, solder (solder paste) passes through the clearance between the under end surface 7A of the isolation wall 7 and the upper surface of the printed board P to short-circuit the adjoining left and right terminal legs 5A. In some cases, a so-called soldered bridge is formed.
Also, in the conventional connector of FIG. 6, a slope 2A of a male contact insertion portion on a head of the female contact 2 is positioned as high as an insertion slope 1D of the housing 1. Therefore, a tilted tip end of the male contact abuts directly on the slope 2A, thereby damaging the female contact 2. When the female contact is repeatedly inserted and pulled out, the tilt is gradually changed. An engagement force of the male contact and the female contact is changed accordingly. Also, right and left holding forces of the tuning-fork shaped right and left contact portions 3 of the female contact are also changed. This easily occurs also when a center line of the slope 2A is not positioned precisely.
An object of the present invention is to solve the aforementioned conventional problems caused by the sticking and rising of the flux.